Adult Object Lesson: Epiphany 2
Water Is Turned into Wine — and So Much More!
John 2:1-12
Mystery writers follow an old adage. If there is a gun hanging on the wall in Act 1, shots had better be fired by the end of Act 3.
Today’s objects are a small glass of water and wine.
We are now in Act 1 of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus has already left home, been baptized, and collected his disciples. They travel to Cana for a wedding—major entertainment in those days, typically lasting a week.
The stage in John’s Gospel is set with two things. Water and Wine.
Water has already played a role in this mystery. Jesus was baptized. Dramatic anticipation.
Wine is the gun hanging on the wall, or in this case crowding the edges of the stage in the form of six huge wine bottles.
But we are not yet finished with water!
John writes about two people whose lives were very much interwoven with his own. He was an invited guest at this wedding. Yet he tells this story from a distance.
There by Jesus’ side is his mother, unnamed by John, who was charged at the foot of the cross with her care and well-being.
Jesus’ mother prods her son. Now is the time, she encourages. Your special talents are needed now.
Jesus, like many sons coming of age, resists. What do you know, woman? My hour has not yet come? Suspense!
The common humanity of this situation is in contrast to the sign that is about to happen. Mary ignores her son and takes control. She puts Jesus in a position where he must perform. This mother will have her way.
The Spirit is reentering the story. We heard about the Spirit last week. It’s what made Jesus’ baptism different from all the baptisms gone before.
And so the water, which has come to mean so much in the story of Jesus, once again takes center stage. It is to become wine—extraordinary wine.
It’s still Act 1. Wine will continue to play a role as the plot unfolds. Wait ’til Act 3 for the gun to go off!
photo credit: *(Antonio)* – out of mind – via photopin cc
In this mystery story, Jesus’ remark about his hour not yet coming also points ahead to later “Acts” of the story. For, as in 13:1, his “hour” turns out to be when he will return to the glory of his Father. And, in Jn. 14-16, Jesus tells his disciples about the main gift he will give them after he departs, namely, the gift of the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit. Even in the beginning of this story, in 1:31-14, John the Baptist sees the Spirit descending and remaining on Jesus and says that while he (John) baptizes with water, this one will baptize with the Spirit. In Jn. 2, it is not yet his hour, but the new wine is a sign that points to this heavenly glory of Jesus, the Spirit he will give them at the end of this story.